ECLIPSE: Advancing the deployment of the Common European Reference Framework for Energy-saving Applications (CERF)

17 pilot sites across Europe are to host the deployment and demonstration of CERF's second generation blueprint.

© ECLIPSE

The ECLIPSE project is advancing Europe's energy digitalisation through a Common European Reference Framework (CERF) for energy-saving applications. This work is laying the foundations for secure, interoperable and data-sovereign energy services, while ensuring that consumers remain at the centre of the energy transition.

A data-sovereign, interoperable architecture

The digitalisation of Europe's energy system requires new tools and frameworks to enable secure, interoperable, and consumer-focused energy services. The ECLIPSE project, funded under the Digital Europe Programme, is addressing this challenge by deploying the second generation blueprint of the Common European Reference Framework for energy-saving applications.

The ECLIPSE architecture operates within the Common European Energy Data Space (CEEDS). It integrates three key pillars:

• EDS connectors to ensure identity, consent, and semantic interoperability in line with Gaia-X and International Data Spaces Association (IDSA) standards.
• Smart-meter infrastructure to provide reliable, near real-time data for households and market actors.
• Aggregator platforms to translate distributed flexibility into market-ready services.
  

By using the Smart Grid Architecture Model (SGAM), ECLIPSE positions smart meters, photovoltaic systems, aggregators and consumer apps consistently across process, operation and market layers. This mapping shows how each element interacts, from household data collection to grid balancing and flexibility markets.

Key achievements include:

• In the context of interoperability: Deployment of standardised EDS connectors aligned with Gaia-X and IDSA (International Data Spaces Association) principles, enabling seamless exchange of smart meter and flexibility data across domains.
• In the context of data sovereignty: Introduction of consent-based data usage policies, ensuring that prosumers retain control over how their household and device data is shared.
• In the context of advanced smart meter infrastructure: Improved harmonisation of data models and interfaces, supporting near-real-time analytics for consumer apps and aggregator platforms.

These advancements align the ECLIPSE architecture with the Common European Energy Data Spaces (CEEDs) initiative, strengthening aggregator-flexibility coordination, and integrating contextual datasets, such as weather and mobility, to enrich energy forecasting.

Use cases: Turning requirements into real-world applications

To ensure its architecture addresses real needs, ECLIPSE has defined 56 use cases following the IEC 62559-2 standard, grouped into six categories:

1. Energy invoice reduction: Encouraging behavioural changes to lower consumer costs.
2. Carbon footprint reduction & awareness: Helping users cut emissions and support climate goals.
3. Grid resilience and quality of supply: Improving grid stability through informed consumer actions.
4. Optimizing home energy use: Managing household assets and smart appliances with real-time data.
5. Flexibility market participation: Enabling consumers and aggregators to trade demand-side flexibility.
6. Smart EV charging: Coordinating charging strategies to balance user needs and grid constraints.
   

These use cases will be validated across 17 ECLIPSE pilot sites across Europe, supported by a robust requirements framework covering data spaces, service apps, communication and infrastructure. This ensures the ECLIPSE framework remains both technically sound and adaptable across diverse European contexts.

Turning innovation into a user experience: The ECLIPSE App

To bring these technical advances directly to citizens, ETRA developed an end-user app, based on the ECLIPSE CERF architecture described beforehand.

The app brings together a wide range of functionalities designed to make energy management both simple and impactful. Once registered, users can create their profiles, add supply points, and detail the appliances connected in their homes. This allows the app to generate a complete picture of energy usage and adapt its guidance to each household.

Through real-time monitoring, consumers gain an instant view of both their energy consumption and production. Thanks to advanced NILM (Non-Intrusive Load Monitoring) analysis, the app can break down total consumption into appliance-level insights, helping users identify which devices have the greatest impact on their bills. This data is complemented by energy cost estimates calculated under Time-of-Use tariffs, giving consumers a clear understanding of how their habits translate into economic outcomes.

Beyond monitoring, the app supports behavioural change. Personalised tips and environmental notifications encourage users to adopt more efficient practices, while Demand Response alerts connect households with the wider grid. By responding to these notifications, users can not only support grid stability but also receive calculated incentives for their participation.

Prototype and pilots

The first prototype is already available, with continuous refinements underway. ECLIPSE pilot sites that do not yet have an app in place will implement the ECLIPSE energy app, while those that already operate their own app will adapt it to the ECLIPSE CERF.

To validate consumer perspectives, ECLIPSE conducted a survey with nearly 300 participants. Results revealed both the most valued features (such as monitoring, cost visibility, tips) and key adoption barriers (such as complexity, lack of incentives). These insights are feeding directly into the next iterations of the app.

For a more detailed look at the app's interface and functionalities, watch the ECLIPSE demo video, which offers a guided tour through the main sections, from energy monitoring to flexibility options, showing how the application will empower end-users in the energy transition.

What's next?

By combining a robust architecture, a comprehensive set of use cases, and a consumer application, ECLIPSE is building the foundations for an interoperable and consumer-centric energy ecosystem. The next steps will focus on refining the prototype, testing in real-world pilots, ensuring interoperability across the common European energy data space and describing the list of recommendations and strategies to facilitate the adoption of ECLIPSE results across Europe.

Further information

• Digitalisation of the European Energy System
• EU Energy policy - Smart Grids Task Force - Expert Group 3: Towards a Common Reference Framework for a Consumer Application
• The Smart energy Grid Architecture Model (SGAM) - IEC SRD 63200
• Gaia-X European Data Infrastructure
• Common European Data Spaces
• International Data Spaces Association (IDSA)

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